Shopping this week was also pretty simple ( besides the fact that I didn’t have to cart the family with me and I could focus on sales and coupons a little better ). My grocery bill came to $100 and after all the sales and coupons I ended up paying $70 –> this is my golden number lately.

Step 1. I put the skirt on and wrapped myself in two layers of yellow electrical tape. It stretches so don’t worry about it being too tight.

Step 2. Lay shirt flat and wrap tape around each sleeve of the shirt – can use short sleeve too!

Step 3. Put felt under shirt neckline and trace with a pen the outline of the shirt. Then place felt on top of the shirt and begin making the scoops to your preference ( large, small, close together or far apart ). I used a drinking glass and made the middle scallop first and then went out from that point.

Step 4. Cut out your neck piece.

Step 5. Glue neck piece to shirt and allow to dry!

And there you have the easiest Olive Oyl costume EVER!!!! I wrapped my hair in a low bun and let it fall out a little to kind of ‘stick’ out of my head.

It’s official, Halloween is upon us so if you don’t have your goodies yet keep reading!

Brandon’s daycare has a little gift exchange for Halloween and I always try to make it a little extra special. Granted, I cringe at the thought of spending money on anything for the holiday but I did ( run, don’t walk to your nearest Michael’s and scoop up all their Halloween crafts for 70% off ).

I’ve been grabbing things over the last few weeks that I thought would be appropriate for kids about 1-4 years old. Target and Michael’s were the hotpots. I got a little pumpkin doodle pad and spiral notebooks from Target along with fruit snacks and stickers! I had glow sticks and crayons and Michael’s offered the stickers for $0.30! The best part is, all of these things come in packs so the stickers I split for six kids, along with the note pads and glow sticks. These fun trick-or-treats cost me less than $10 for six kids!

I had twine already and also found these cute “to & from” pins at Michael’s too. I made two bags age-appropriate (for children under 1) by adding fruit pouches instead of fruit snacks!

I hope this gives you a fun idea if you’re needing one for the festivities in less than 3 days!!

Shopping this week was pretty easy. I felt like I went into the store with a better plan than I typically do. Sometimes I don’t have breakfast or lunch ‘planned’ so I wing it. There wasn’t much second guessing at items and I left with a $70 bill which is a win in my book!

Seems like all the events we always want to participate in happen when we’re away or if we are around, we somehow miss the memo! Not this weekend! Kevin was away for the weekend so my Mom came to visit for a couple days ( aka keep Brandon entertained ). I saw an ad for Touch-a-Truck a few towns away which was a fundraiser for an Elementary School. We have been wanting to take Brandon to one for months now! I think the pictures explain his joy.

We arrived as soon as the event opened and had first pick of the trucks! Naturally we checked out the Excavator first followed by the Front Loader, Firetruck, Police Cars and Coast Guard Boat. Brandon had so much fun ‘driving’ and pressing all of the buttons he could find. The afternoon was followed up with some carnival games, a bounce house and fresh baked goods. Can we freeze time?

I may have been AWOL over the last year but don’t think I haven’t been saving money and couponing because that’s basically in my blood. Last weekend I did my typical grocery shopping but mid-week realized I needed a couple things ( and stock up on great sales ).

I could have saved even more if I had a Tide coupon which come out pretty frequently and a cream cheese coupon which I don’t usually see.

With a little wise shopping and checking out coupon fliers I was able to save half off my shopping bill for a handful of items that are pretty costly full price. Not everything I need every week is on sale and that’s OK. I try to shop the sales when I can and buy the larger sizes of items we go through often. A huge lifesaver has been the load to card option for digital coupons. It takes me two minutes to scan the app and load anything I might buy.

** added bonus, apps such as Checkout51 or Ibotta allow you even more savings by uploading your receipt ( or linking a loyalty card ) and taking advantage of items they have available that week.

Potty training is something no book or website can teach you how to do. I know there are articles “potty train in three days!” and good for you if that worked! However, I don’t think it’s something that can be done so easily. Here’s how we potty trained Brandon before his second birthday. I’ve been writing this throughout our whole training process as to not forget anything!

1 – Interest! // Brandon showed a lot of interest in the bathroom as a whole starting around 18 months or so. He wanted to be in there with Kevin and I, he wanted to flush, he wanted to “see” and just be a part of the entire event. This was the first step towards us deciding we would give it a shot. We put him on the potty a few times here and there early on just to get him used to it but we did not start right away.

2 – Timing! // You know what they say, timing is everything. It’s not everything in this case, but it is important. Kevin and I decided to begin potty training over Thanksgiving week/weekend. We were home for four days straight with no plans to leave the house. You need to stay close to that potty!

3 – What? // I talked to a couple of friends about how they potty trained and what they used to potty train. Some suggested the training potty that sat on the floor so their little ones could do it themselves and others suggested the cover to fit over your existing toilet (boy mama’s make sure you have the shield!). We ended up having both options but used the cover on our existing toilet mostly because that is what our Daycare uses and we wanted to stay as close as possible to what he had already seen. During the first 6 months Brandon went gone back and forth about which potty he uses. I didn’t particularly like the small one on the floor (besides having to wash it) because he’s too excited to stand up and see his accomplishment he doesn’t finish completely; whereas on the big potty, he’s stuck there until we get him off.

4 – How? // This is where some of those tips & tricks came in handy for us.
* Remove all diapers, underwear and pants. Brandon needed to be free to pee at any moment, unnecessary clothing needs to be off. Plus, he loved being naked! We do live in the northeast so it wasn’t optimal temperature to be naked – long socks help keep legs and feet warm!
* Set a timer. We set a timer for 30 minutes and every time it went off, we put Brandon on the potty and read a potty book. Doesn’t matter what book, just read something! If nothing else, it makes them comfortable sitting on the potty for a period of time and not wanting to jump off.
* Clap! Jump! Congratulate! Do whatever you can in a loud obnoxious way when they do something good. This encourages them to keep doing what they’re doing. If there are other people in the house, get them in on the action too. Since we potty trained over a holiday, we had a full-house – making the Grandparents happy helped encourage Brandon to keep going. A naked toddler at the dinner table isn’t ideal, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do!
* Give treats. Everyone handles this differently. Some do stickers, some do toys, some do charts… this is all your preference. We did one goldfish or cookie for a pee and two for a poop. The poop eventually turned into a mini train, coined “poo-poo choo-choo”…but to be honest, Brandon didn’t care one bit about the toy, he wanted the food.

5 – Accept. // Accept the fact that there are going to accidents. There are going to be A LOT of accidents – especially this early in the game. Yes, we cleaned up a lot of pee off the floor, carpet and clothes and that’s OK! We never forced him to sit on the potty, we never yelled at him when he had an accident and even to this day we don’t get mad or yell.

It’s been almost a year since we started potty training and happy to say we are fully trained and it feels so great. Brandon was potty trained before his second birthday – meaning he was wearing underwear all day and going on the potty. Yes, of course he had accidents and came home from Daycare in different clothes at least once a week! He was wearing pull-ups during his nap as well as all night and that stopped on his terms. A couple months after his birthday we were getting ready for a nap and got his pull-up and he said “don’t need that”, we told him he has to stay dry….and he did, and has been dry ever since. Night time was also on his terms. While getting his pull-up ready for bed he said “don’t need pull-up”. We weren’t so quick to drop this one since he hadn’t woken up dry yet. We made a small chart and told him 5 days of a dry diaper and he can throw them away. Just like that, he was dry! So before 2.5 years old Brandon was potty trained. Of course he wets the bed once in a while – he sleeps real hard, or longer than usual, drinks a lot too late or refuses to pee before bed. It happens. And it’s fine! We put down pads ( which are also great if you’re pregnant and think your water breaking in bed sounds terrible ) for accidents and go about our lives. I’ll do an extra load of laundry if it means no more diapers!

Meal prepping has been my life for a while now and I have to admit, I enjoy it much more than I ever thought I would. The menu planning leaves a lot to be desired because I typically fall back on the same basic meals or ingredients but I’m really trying to expand. Here is something so simple anyone can make with ease!I’m a big component of aluminum foil ( try not to slice it, otherwise it’s pointless )

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a pan with foil. Cook 1lb ground turkey with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin, curry and/or any spices you like. In a separate pot, cook rice or quinoa ( I also like frozen brown rice – it takes 2 minutes to cook ). While everything is cooking, cut the top off of the peppers and remove the seeds. Once the meat is cooked through, mix it with the drained rice. Spoon the meat and rice mixture into the peppers and top with half a slice of cheese or a pinch of shredded cheese. Cook for 30 minutes or until the peppers are tender.

Prepping Protein ( chicken )

While cooking one meal, I like to prep some protein for the week either for lunch or dinner. Chicken is the easiest thing to prep and can be eaten SO many different ways; topped on salad, in wraps, tacos, sandwiches or mixed with pasta. I make a thin layer of olive oil in the bottle of a foil lined pan. I sprinkle whatever spice is appealing at the time ( this is my favorite lately ) onto my chicken breasts, cover both sides of the chicken and bake with the peppers for 35-45 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken.

Once the chicken is done, you can shred it, cube it, slice it or leave it whole for meals later in the week!

Raise your hand if Fall is your least favorite season….anybody…no?…just me? It’s true, I’m not a lover of Fall, or Apple Cider, or Flannel shirts or Halloween but I am a fan of reading good ( and new ) books to Brandon every few months. His current fascination of all things Monster, Dragon and “things that say roar”, what a better time to change up our reading than right now! Here’s what we’ve been loving!

I could not pass up that cat pillow at the Target dollar spot since it looks like Zoe ( others here and here ) and my Mom got Brandon the sweetest Trick-or-Treating tote ( use code ACORN to make this tote $6, Pumpkin, Black Cat and Monster ones )

What books are you loving this season? Brandon is pretty much all about illustrations and not SO much about the story line which makes these all winners! I know there are so, so many books for this month of spooks and thrills but I think Santa will be bringing all the Monsters!

Well, not new but it feels like I haven’t been on here in AGES! Two posts in the last year is not like me and I really want to get back on track with my blogging; sharing life, recipes and what’s new in our life!

This year has brought some changes to our life. WE MOVED!!! It was a long time coming and finally found a house we fell in love with after only a couple months of searching. We made the house our home at the end of April and have spent the last few months settling in and enjoying the space. We loved our condo ( and still have it ) but it was definitely getting a little tight and we needed our own space….away from neighbors! We couldn’t be happier.

Brandon is now 2.5 years old and has been so much fun. He is still at daycare full-time, learning his ABCs, counts to 12 by himself, eats any and everything, knows what he wants and doesn’t want, loves choo-choos, swimming lessons and most importantly, he’s potty trained.

We haven’t done much this year but at the same time we’ve been busy every week since the beginning of the year looking at houses, going on vacation, having friends and family over, going to the beach, checking out our new town, decorating and relaxing! I’ve been meal planning this whole time and trying to change up meals so I hope to share more recipes in the coming months!

In the meantime, here are some shots from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch over the weekend!